#030: American Ninja Warrior - Jessie Graff

The Jedburgh Podcast

The highest levels of physical performance require the utmost mental and emotional strength. To achieve the impossible, we must first believe that the impossible can be achieved if we only put our minds - and our bodies - to the test. Jessie Graff is an American Ninja Warrior, a stuntwoman, a martial arts expert and an inspiration to all those who seek to defy physics and elite performance.

Jessie joins host Fran Racioppi to share her leadership lessons on competition, the mental approach to negotiating complex problems, combatting failure through expectation management and how every setback is an opportunity to grow.

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website.

Highlights:

-Jessie describes how her affection for flying, love for the freedom of weightlessness, and the open air has been a driving force in her career and decision-making.

-Effective training is guided by purpose, but clarity of purpose is not required to generate positive results.

-Jessie explains how preparation and planning for the unknowns is the key to handling the uncontrollables. We cannot control all aspects of a competition but we can control how we prepare and how we react.

-Fran and Jessie discuss effective ways to handle the pressure of the moment when all eyes are on us to perform. Jessie explains her ability to focus on the details of the task at hand vs the noise around her when in the spotlight.

-No stranger to injury, Jessie is one of the most resiliency and adaptive competitors. She provides a glimpse into her mental approach to recovery from injury, how she focuses on expectations, ad her focus on small victories.

-Jessie shares how her love for learning, exploring new skills, and building new capability has helped her through injury, become a better strength trainer herself, and learn sign language during “Signing Sundays.”

Quotes:

-”I’m willing to do the work if it gets me to this amazing goal.”

-”There is this community of ‘if I help you become a better performer, we work together as a better team when we get hired on a job.”

-”Engineering comes into so much stunts and so much Ninja Warrior.”

-“I assume there is a trick in every obstacle. If you look at something and think, ‘I should be able to do that...you are missing something.”

-“I love impossible goals...those are the ones that drive me the most.”

-”If I don’t respect the challenge..it will surprise me.”

-”Having a specific purpose you are passionate about is almost a luxury.”

-”When I fall it can initially feel really heartbreaking...so I really have to look at ‘what is the purpose of this training.’”

-”You can blame a lot of outside sources., but does that make me better?”

-”What thought process is going to give me the best results. What situations does that pressure help me...and when does it hurt me.”

-”I’ve been able to grow from every injury I’ve had.”

Jessie’s Three Daily Foundations to Success:

-Sleep to enhance focus and drive

-Hydrate to maintain nutrition and balance

-Exercise to stay active and engaged

This episode is brought to you by 18A Fitness and Analytix Solutions.